Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 3,676 Shares of Lamar Advertising Company $LAMR

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 209,241 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,676 shares during the quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. owned about 0.21% of Lamar Advertising worth $26,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,384,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $291,928,000 after purchasing an additional 46,361 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,382,137 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $301,573,000 after purchasing an additional 32,542 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,629,554 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $199,490,000 after purchasing an additional 314,235 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,587,887 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $193,166,000 after purchasing an additional 112,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,478,299 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $180,973,000 after purchasing an additional 178,880 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LAMR has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group set a $150.00 target price on Lamar Advertising in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Lamar Advertising from $136.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Lamar Advertising in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. TD Cowen upped their target price on Lamar Advertising from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $145.00 target price on Lamar Advertising in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.00.

Lamar Advertising Trading Down 2.3%

NASDAQ LAMR opened at $150.99 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.86 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $144.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.21. Lamar Advertising Company has a 12 month low of $113.66 and a 12 month high of $158.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.33.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $528.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $522.86 million. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 55.53% and a net margin of 24.01%. On average, analysts predict that Lamar Advertising Company will post 8.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be given a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is presently 118.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Ross Lamar Reilly sold 5,969 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.65, for a total value of $767,911.85. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,039,102.50. This represents a 27.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 15.24% of the company’s stock.

Lamar Advertising Company Profile

Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ: LAMR) is one of North America’s largest outdoor advertising firms, specializing in out-of-home media solutions. Since its founding in 1902, the company has grown through a combination of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to offer a broad portfolio of advertising products. Its core business centers on billboard advertising, encompassing traditional static billboards and a rapidly expanding network of digital displays. These assets enable advertisers to reach consumers with high-impact messaging along highways, in urban centers, and at high-traffic intersections.

In addition to highway billboards, Lamar offers a variety of supplemental out-of-home formats, including transit advertising on buses and shelters, and logo signage at travel plazas and gas stations.